On Friday, the England Legends captained by Martin Corry, and featuring Quins legend Jason Leonard will take to the pitch at The Stoop to meet the Ireland Legends for a charity match/ curtain raiser for the Six Nations England Ireland match on Saturday afternoon at Twickenham.   I understand that tickets have been selling very well and there could be a near capacity crowd for the Legends. I hope they’ve ordered enough beer!

It is amazing what a win can do. Flagging spirits have been revived amongst the army of quartered shirts after a storming first half performance last week against Northampton which saw Quins home by 13-6 at The Stoop, with all the points being scored in from of the North Stand. The worry remains the pattern stays the same a strong first half, and defending the lead throughout the forty plus minutes of the second half. This was another Quins match who saw the home side fail to score any second half points, but their defense was absolutely awesome, and hopefully has set the team up for this Sunday’s important game, another must win to maintain the momentum. Harlequins ended a three game losing run in the Premiership with this victory, although this is only their second win of 2010. Quins may have finally turned the corner as we head for the final quarter of the season.  Maybe now they can start to ascend the table with a new found confidence, after their blitz of a performance and a physical encounter with the Midland side. Quin’s set piece was much improved after he mauling of the week before and this will be required to be fully functioning this weekend. Their win was also secured despite international call ups and a series of injuries. After the match John Kingston admitted that he “could do with a few of them back. It is just about trying to tiptoe through the next few games while we‘ve got our internationals away, particularly given the injury list.” Quins will need to be on their toes this week away in Reading. Kingston believes that “If we can stay in contention then we can kick on in the last six when the ground gets hard”. All very well but judging by the weather we will need a plan B and the arrival of the new DoR in Conor O’Shea should be the spark that ignites the team for the rest of the season.

The win together with the results of the other teams around Harlequins in the bottom half of the table propelled Quins from ninth up to seventh place

The omens are still favorable as the Guinness premiership announced earlier this week Harlequins have a superb record at the Madejski Stadium, having lost in just two of the eleven previous visits against all opponents in all competition. That includes their visit a few weeks ago when they saw off London Irish in the LV= cup, another game they hung on to win with a fine defensive performance.  The Premiership game at The Stoop back in October saw the teams play out a 9 all draw.

In contrast their hosts continue their free fall from the top of the table. London Irish drew 12 all with Newcastle last weekend, despite scoring the only try of the match; a valuable two points salvaged but it could not prevent them falling to fifth place in the table. London Irish are, however , still winless in their last seven matches across all competitions since the start of this year , yes  two months into 2010 London Irish have yet to win a match – but the green wigged , rhytmnless drumming supporters are not baying for their coaches head. Booth comment after match was “we are back on the right road, (after a similar heavy loss, like Quins in the West Country the week before), if we can tighten up a few bits and pieces we will soon be on the winning trail”.  Sundays clash is likely to be a defining moment for the rest of the season for both teams.   I can see this will result in another draw after eighty minutes.

Come on You Quins!

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